Forming machine



" TON FORMING MACHINE Filed Aug. 2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sh l ESE:

ea L k '74 74 1 ENTCR 72/ 70 v 2 streets-shes; 2

R. s. TuR'roN' FQRMING MACHINE 7 Filed Aug. 2, 1940 Feb. 9; 1943:

- INVENTOR. [Ofif'i 72/270 ATrbRNEY; g

Patented Feb. 9, 1943 FORMING MACHINE Robert S. Turton, Huntington Park, Calif., assignor to Douglas Aircraft Company,

Monica, Calif.

Application August 2, 1940, Serial No.

Inc., Santa 14 Claims. Cl. 153-21) My invention relates to a machine for forming pieces of material and particularly pieces of metal of extruded angle and channel shapes.

In the metal working art, it has long been the practice to form pieces of material in a manner commonly called joggling in order that spliced joints may be formed with two or more pieces while maintaining a substantially continuous surface from one piece to another.

In th present day, when streamlined surfaces are of such great importance to enhance speed and appearance, the joggling of frame members to permit smooth covering of structures is being widely used. For example, in aircraft construction, both fuselages and wings are monocoque construction comprising frame members, longitudinals, ribs and spars covered with a smooth sheet covering. The metal is generally of light gauge and weight and it is necessary that a multiplicity of fastening means such as rivets be used in close proximity to each other to secure the covering sheets to the frame members. Naturally the framework of both wings and fuselages are made up of many pieces joined together and these joints commodate the closely spaced fastening means for the sheet covering without necessitating a buckling of the sheet as it passes over the frame joints.

J oggling of frame members has been universa1- 1y adopted to accomplish the above mentioned smooth construction. However, a problem became immediately apparent with respect to production joggling. When a joggle is formed in a piece of material the piece is deformed but it is necessary to guide the deformation in one desired direction only. This is difficult, particularly with respect to angle stock, as it has a tendency to buckle in at least two directions unless it is firmly held during the deforming operation.

of metal semimust be smooth to ac- It is the principal object of my invention to correctly form a piece of material in a single Such firm holding would usually require clamping, a slow process and not conducive to production. If the piece is not firmly held, the only alternative is to straighten the undesirable buckled portion by hand following the machine operation. But again, it is apparent that production speed must be sacrificed.

It is, therefore, apparent that to solve the holding or clamping problem above set forth a suitable guiding and holding means must be incorporated in the forming machine." I have solved that problem in the apparatus about to be described and i which a piece of material is held in its correct forming position and permitted to deform in only the desired manner.

operation without the use of extraneous means for clamping, holding, or guiding the material, these results being obtained solely through the disposition and operation of the forming apparatus.

It is another object of my invention to correctly joggle a piece of material in a single operation without deforming the piece of material in other than the desired manner.

Another object is to form a piece of material in an apparatus having two working faces and to vary the forming dimension by changing the relative positions of the working faces with respect to each other.

Another object is to form a joggle in a piece of material between oppositely disposed working faces, each of, the working faces being partially rigid and partially movable.

A still further object is to form a piece of material between angularly disposed working faces, the angular disposition of the faces being arranged to correctly position the piece of material while being formed therebetween.

A still further object is to form a joggle in a piece of material between oppositely disposed working faces, each of the working faces being partially rigid and partially movable, and to provide means to vary the depth of the joggle.

Another object is to form a piece of material between working faces of an apparatus, the apparatus being movable to exert forming pressure onthe piece of material and the working faces being separately movable to control the forming depth.

Another object is to form a, piece of material in an apparatus, the working parts thereof being angularly disposed to correctly maintain the piece of material in forming position throughout the forming operation.

Other and further objects will become apparent in the following description and in the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is aperspective view of a forming apparatus comprising a movable ram member, a movable base member and an angularly disposed die block carried by each member.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view in front elevation of a pair of mating die blocks with a piece of material to be formed thereby placed therebetween.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2 showing one of the die blocks with an angle shaped piece of material placed thereon in position for forming.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line l4 of Figure 3 showing a movable portion of a die block.

Figure 5 is a sectional view of a die block substantially identical to the die block of Fig- I ure 3 and showing a bulb-angle shaped piece of material placed thereon in position for forming.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 66 of Figure 1 and showing the relative positioning of the die blocks and the piece of material to be formed therebetween.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-1 of Figure 6; and

Figure 8 i an end elevation in section of a die block particularly adapted for joggling a channel shaped piece of material.

In Figure l is shown the complete assembly of my forming machine, a movable ram being indicated by the numeral Ill. The ram has a head l2 which is fixed to a piston l4 movable preferably in a vertical plane by a pressure cylinder or some other power means not shown. The lower side of the ram head is eccentrically shaped to provide a right-angled cut-out to accommodate a die block it which i rigidly at-. tached thereto as by bolts l8 and 23. The cutout is angularly disposed to the ram piston l4 and therefore to the plane of movement of the ram head as it moves up and down. The longer leg of the angle which includes the cut-out is formed by a subtending portion 22 of the ram head and the portion extends considerably below the die block l6 fixed to the ram head for a purpose to be later described.

Directly below the above described assembly, a'support 24 having an upstanding portion 26 is provided, and mounted thereon is a movable base 28. The base has downwardly extending portions to and 32 of substantially identical vertical dimensions as the upstanding portion 25 of the support 24. In this way, the major portion of the base is supported on the upperface of the upstanding portion of the support while the downwardly extending portions 30 and 32 serve primarily as stops limiting the movement of the base relative to the support in a direction either to the left or right.

The upper portion of the base 28 is'also eccentrically shaped to provide a right-angled cut-out toaccommodate a mating die block 34 which is rigidly attached thereto by bolts as at 35. This latter cut-out is likewise angularly disposed to the planes of movement of the ram head l2 and the base 28, and the opposing legs of the angles forming the cut-outs in the ram head andmovable base are parallel to each other in order thatthe die blocks i 6 and 34 fixed to the respective portions may have position. A plurality of ribs 38 strengthen and support the upstanding leg 48 of the base angle cut-out.

As previously stated, the base member 28 is movable in a direction to the left or right on the support 24 and it i guided in this movement by a plurality of rods G2 best shown in Figure 7. One end of each rod is threaded into the movable base at 44 whereupon the rod passes through a bore 46 in a guide block 55 rigidly bolted to the support 2-! at 52. After passing through the bore 46 each rod then passes through a rubbery or elastic material 54 and i then threaded into a retaining bar 56 at 53. It may now be seen that the movable base is held upon the support by its the same angular disown weight, is guided in its lateral movement by the rods 42 passing through the blocks 50 and is prevented from moving longitudinally by the same rods and block.

It has been described how the ram head l2 and the movable base 28 are shaped to hold a pair of mating die blocks t5 and Si in an angular attitude. Referring now to the other figures, each die block comprises a base block 60 upon which is mounted a fixed end block 62 bolted to the base at 64, a rigid working block 66 bolted to the base at 68 and a resiliently movable working block 19 disposed between the end block 62 and the rigid working block 66, and adapted to move up and down with respect to the other two blocks through a limited range.

The end block 62 i of the same height as the working block 10 and the rigid working block is a certain amount higher. The amount of travel of the working block is determined by the thickness of a spacer 12 which lies upon the base block 69.

The movable working block is guided throughout its travel by a pair of bolts M passing through bores16 and 18 in the base block 60 and the spacer l2 and threaded into the working block. Clearance is provided in both the ram head and the movable base 24 as best shown in Figure 6 at 89. The working block is urged upwardly away from the die block base 6!] and spacer 12 by a spring 82 encircling each of the bolts 74. A retainer for the lower end of each spring is formed in the spacer and the upper ends thereof are held in an enlarged bore portion 84 of the working block.

Each working block is made up of three portions, a large T-shaped portion 86 and two strips 88 and 9B. The strips are bolted to the T-shaped portion at 92. The working face of each block comprises the top of the T and the exterior surface of the strip 90 and this may best be understood by studying Figures 3 and '7 wherein an angle-shaped piece of material 94 is shown in place on the working face ready for forming. One leg of the angle and a portion of the other leg thereof lie against the top of the T whereas the remainder of the latter leg rests against the strip 90.

The disposition of the die blocks as they are held by the ram head l2 and the movable base 28 of the forming machine is best shown in Figure 6. One die block is placed in the cut out of the movable base with its working face turned upwardly to the ram head. The other die block is inverted and rotated horizontally so that the rigid working face of die block 34 opposes the movable working face of die block l6. Likewise, the rigid working face of die block l6 :ogposes the movable working face of die block I will now describe the operation of the forming machine as it places a joggle in the piece of angle-shaped material 94. The piece of material is placed upon the working face of die block 34 as in Figure 7. The ram head I2 is then moved downwardly until the working face of die block I 6 and the subtending portion 22 of the ram head simultaneously engage the piece blocks 66 exerting force against the piece 94 and compressing the springs 82. This downward pressure movement continues until the movable shaped material the piece 94 with engagement with working blocks have come to a stop against the spacers 12 whereupon the piece of angle- 94 has been joggled to thee tent permitted by the spacers 12 as shown in "Figure 6. Thus it is apparent that by varying 'the thickness of the spacers 12 the depth of joggle may be controlled.

To return to the point where the ram head began to exert pressure .to displace the movable working blocks, it is seen that the subtending portion 22 of the ram head is also going to force against the side of die block 34 and the leg of which it is in contact. As

this force increases, the leg of .the piece 9 3 is clamped against the die block and the entire 1 base member 28 is forced to move laterally to the right. The movement to the right will im- -mediately compress the rubbery or elastic material 54 by reason of the movement of the retaining bar to the right with the movable base. Thus it will be seen that the forced compression of the elastic material will attempt torestrain the movement of .the movable base and this restraint should be just sufiicient to permit the completion of the joggle of the piece 94. It is evident then that as the ram head moves into the piece of material and the lower die block, the piece of material will automatically be correctly held on the working faces and likewise the leg of the piece which is in engagement with the subtending portion of the ram head will be prevented from buckling out as the joggle is forced into the piece of material.

In addition to the joggle depth variation obtained through the use of spacers of different thicknesses, it is also possible to vary the joggling dimension longitudinally, that is from one breaking point to the other and this is accomplished by moving the position of the one die block longitudinally relative to the other die block. In this way the distance between the movable working block of, for example, the upper die block and the rigid working block of the lower die block may be increased or decreased within limits to make the joggling angle sharper or flatter.

My description thus far has been concerned exclusively with the forming of a plain angleshaped piece of material such as the piece 94. However, variously shaped pieces of material may be joggled or formed in this machine through the use of different die blocks. For example, Figure 5 shows a block adapted toform an angle 96 having a bulb 98 at the end of one leg thereof. This piece is readily formed by merely changing the shape of the strip 90 to accommodate the bulb. If it is desired to form a channel shaped piece of material, a pair of blocks such as that shown in Figure This block includes a base portion I00, a central portion HM and two side portions I02 spaced therefrom by resilient means such as springs I04. Although only an end view of this die block is shown in the drawings, it is comprised of rigid and moving working blocks as in the embodiments previously described. The channel shaped piece of material is placed with its legs in the groove-like spaces I05 between the central of the block and the subtending portion 22 of the ram head urging against one of the side portions Hi2 prevents the legs of the channel from buckling as the channel is formed.

While I- havedescribed my invention in its and side portions present embodiments, it will be obvious tothose 75 8 may be utilized.

skilled in .the art, after understanding the "invention, that various changes may .be made therein without departing from the scope thereof. I aim in the appended claims to cover all such modifications or changes.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for deforming angle shaped strips of metal, a horizontally movable base resiliently restrained against movement, a pair of co-planar die blocks mounted on said base and each having an upper working face at a slight angle to the horizontal and a side working face at a slight angle to the vertical, a vertically movable ram, a second pair of mating co-planar die blocks carried thereby and each having a working face disposedin offset opposition to the upper working faces of said first pair of die blocks, and means carried by said ram for opposing the side working faces of said first pair of die blocks .to yieldingly clamp a strip of metal flatly therebetween upon movement of said ram toward said base.

2. In a machine for forming a piece of material, a member movable in a single plane, a working face on said member angularly disposed to its plane of movement, a second workingface normally coplanar with said first named working face and displaceable with respect thereto posed to its plane of movement, a second working -with respect thereto in a so arranged that the working face normally co-planar with said first named second member working face and displaceable direction normal to the plane of the working face under pressure; the angular disposition of the planes of movement of the members and of the working faces being faces will abut when said second member is moved into pressural contact with the first member, the first member will be displaced by the second member and the displaceable working faces of both members will be displaced both with said members and with respect thereto during the forming operation.

3. In a machine for forming a piece of material, a member movable in a single plane, elastic means for restraining such movement, a die block mounted on said member and movable both with said member and with respect thereto, a working face on said die block angularly disposed to its plane of movement, a second member movable in a single plane angularly disposed to said plane of movement of said first member, a die block mounted on said second member and movable both with and with respect thereto, a working face on said die block angularly disposed to its .plane of movement, the angular disposition of planes of movement of the two die blocks with their respective mounting members being so arranged that the die block working faces will abut when said second member die block working face is moved into pressural contact with said first member die block working face and the first member will be displaced by the second member against the elastic restraining means.

4. In an apparatus for forming an offset in sheet metal, a horizontally movable base, a die block upon which metal is formed carried by said base and adjustable with respect thereto to vary the offset in the longitudinal dimension, avertically movable ram, a' mating die blockcarried by said "ram and adapted-to -coo-perate with said first nameddie block in the forming operation, the working faces of said, die blocks being arranged at an angle to the horizontal, and means on said ram for engaging a side face of the die block mounted on said base and for urging said base and die block horizontally duringthe forming operation.

5. In an apparatus for forming a joggle in a piece of material, a horizontally movable base, a die block upon which a joggle is formed in the piece of material, said die block being carried by said base and adjustable with respect thereto to vary the longitudinal dimension of the joggle, a vertically movable ram, a mating die block-carried by said ram and adapted to cooper-ate with said first named die block in formingthe joggle when the ram brings the second said'die block into pressure relation with the first said die block, the piece of material being placed therebetween, the-working faces of said die blocks being arranged at an angle to the horizontal, and means on said ram for engaging a side face of thedie block mounted on said base and for urging said face and die block horizontally, holding said piece of material in correct joggling position, and preventing said piece from buckling during the joggling operation.

6. In an apparatus for deforming metal, a fixed base, a movable fixed base member horizontally movable in two directions normal to each other on said base, a ram member arranged above said movable base member and vertically movable toward and away from said movable base member, opposing die blocks angularly mounted on said ram member and said movable base member, said die blocks being adjustable relative to each other by moving said movable base in said one direction on said fixed base, means on said ram member engageable with the die block on said movable base member for urging it horizontally in said other direction upon lowering of said ram member. 7

7. In a machine of the class described, upper and lower cooperating die blocks adapted for forming a joggle in a piece of material, said lower die block comprising a base having an upstanding rigid forming portion, a second forming .portion slidably carried thereby, and resilient means for urging said second forming portion upwardly, said upper die block being substantially identical in construction and rotated 180 in a substantially horizontal plane with respect thereto so that each rigid portion is opposite a movable portion, said die blocks being oiTset laterally to a predetermined extent to form a joggle in a piece of material gripped therebetween from the time of simultaneous contact between each die block and the piece of ma terial until the forming is complete.

8. In a machine for forming a joggle in a piece of material, opposing die blocks substantially identical in construction, each die block comprising a base, a first forming portion rigidly attached thereto, a second forming portion carried by and movable with respect to said base, cooperating guide means carried by said second portion and said base and resilient means for urging said second portion away from said base, one of said die blocks being rotated 180 with respect to the other and oiTset laterally to a predetermined extent, means to move said die blocks toward each other to form a joggle in a piece of material pressed therebetween, and spacer means for limiting the relative travel of each die block nally disaligned .die. block horizontally during the second forming portion in accordance with the desired depth of joggle.

9. Adie block for use with a machine of the class described comprising: a rigid base member having-an upstanding portion, a forming member movably carried by said base member, resilient means urging said forming member upwardly, means for guiding said forming member and for limiting its upward movement to a predetermined position, and i a removable spacer member for limiting the downward movement of said forming member to a predetermined extent.

10. A die block for use in joggling a channel shaped strip of material, comprising a rigid base and two upstanding forming blocks, the first forming block comprising a first member rigidly attached to said base, second and third members slidably carried by said base, and resilient means interposed between said members to normally hold them in spaced relation to receive the flanges of a channel shaped strip, the second forming block comprising a sub-base slidably carried by said base, resilient means to urge said sub-base away from said base, a first member rigidly attached to said sub-base, second and third members slidably carried by said sub-base, and resilient means interposed between said members to normally hold them in spaced relation to receive the flanges of a channel shaped strip, said first and second sets of members being adapted to collapse under lateral pressure to clamp a strip of material therein.

11. In. an apparatus for offsetting material, a

base, a pair of co-planar die blocks carried by able portion oppositely disposed and longitudiwith respect to the other pair, means for moving said ram-carried pair of die blocks into pressural engagement with said base die blocks to force said movable carried pair of die blocks and the downward travel of the movable portion of the base-carried pair of die blocks in determining the depth of the offset.

12. In an apparatus for offsetting material, a

horizontally movable base, a die block upon which material is formed carried by said base and adjustable with respect thereto to vary the offset in the longitudinal dimension, a vertically movable ram, a mating die block upward travel of portion of the ram-carried die block, means to limit the downward travel of the movable portion of the base carried die block, said.last two means serving to determine the depth of the offset, and means on said ram for engaging a side face of each portion of said basecarried die block and for urging said base and forming operation.

13. In a machine for forming a piece of material, a support, a base member mounted for movement in a horizontal plane on said support, a ram movable toward and away from said base member and adapted to displace said base member to maintain proper alignment therebetween during the forming operation, elastic means for restraining such movement and for returning said base member to its original position upon completion of said forming operation, a pair of co-planar die blocks mounted upon said base member and having their working faces disposed angularly with respect to said base member, one of said die blocks being rigid with said base and the other die block being movable with respect thereto, and a pair of mating co-planar die blocks carried by said ram and having their working faces disposed angularly with respect to said ram in such manner that the working faces of the two pairs of die blocks will abut when said ram displaces said base and moves the mating pair of die blocks into contact with the first named pair of die blocks carried by said base, one of said ram-carried die blocks being rigid with said ram and the other die block being movable with respect thereto, the arrangement being such that each movable block of each pair is opposed by the rigid block of the other .pair, each pair becoming non-planar through movement of the non-rigid blocks when the mating pair of blocks is brought into pressure engagement with the piece of material placed upon the first named pair of die blocks.

14. In a machine for forming a piece of material, a support, a base member mounted on said support and movable with respect thereto in a horizontal plane, elastic means for restraining such movement, a die block having a fixed portion and a movable portion mounted upon said base member with their working faces coplanar, and disposed angularly with respect to said base member, a ram movable toward and away from said base member die block, and a mating die block fixed to said ram and oppositely disposed relative to said first mentioned die blocks fixed and movable portions, said last named die block portions having their working faces disposed angularly with respect to said ram in such manner that all working faces of the two die blocks will simultaneously clamp the piece of material to be formed therebetween when said ram moves said mating die block into contact with the piece of material placed upon the first said die block, the movable portion of each die block being adapted to become nonplanar relative to its respective fixed portion in forming the piece of material when pressure is applied thereto by said ram.

ROBERT S. TURTON. 

